Kaupapa Māori Principles of Leadership

The absence of bicultural hautūtanga/leadership practices in the Aotearoa New Zealand education system has impacted negatively on ākonga Māori and inhibited their educational success as Māori for over 100 years. Ākonga Māori face significant wero/challenges in state funded schools by virtue of their ethnicity. These wero, invisible to the western-centric mainstream, result in behaviours that are often interpreted by staff as negative, disengaged, resistant, or worse, dangerous. It is a flawed assumption that Aotearoa New Zealand is an egalitarian society, an inclusive and bicultural eutopia.